beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts unto uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonoured among themselves: for that they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. . . And even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up unto a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, unmerciful: who, knowing the ordinance of God, that they which practise such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also consent with them that practise them.'

Therefore all envy and covetousness and quarrels and thefts and murders and contentions which take place among people result from this inward and outward badness of man. And just as these matters do away with man's happiness and rest of heart, so too they take away rest and peace from the people of a house, of a village, of a city, of a country. This is the cause of all enmity, accusations, tyranny, oppression in the world. So, too, all bodily pain and disease originate in sin. For sin is that seed of death which man has sowed in the field of his own

body; and it ultimately springs up, gains sway over the body, and drags it to death. Were it not for sin, there would be no trace whatever of suffering, disease or death among men. In short, death and pain and sickness and all the sufferings and manifold sorrows which come upon a man, whether on his own account or on that of others, and all the troubles and afflictions which Providence permits to befall us, such as barrenness of the land, drought, famine, pestilence, earthquakes; the original cause of all these things is sin and alienation from God, for they are all the fruit of sin in some way. Accordingly under such circumstances a man should not give way to misery and sorrow and imitate the wicked in their method of treating such calamities. Nay rather, when these troubles come, should he sorrow and lament for his sins, for it is on account of sin that all these evils are permitted by the most merciful God to afflict His creatures, in order that they may recognize their own sinfulness and may repent and depart from iniquity.

Just as man has come into existence not for this transitory world only but still more for that eternal world, and therefore his spirit continues to exist and, after separating from the body, removes to the eternal and invisible world, so after death the results and the punishments of sin also cling to the spirit and are present and evident with it in the next world. Although on account of death certain kinds of punishments and certain consequences of